Queen of the clouds

IBM today announced two new business units that will apply the company’s considerable knowledge in Big Data, advanced analytics and cognitive computing to the Internet of Things (IOT) and Educations markets, respectively. Harriet Green, formerly CEO and executive director of the Thomas Cook Group and of Premier Farnell plc, has joined the company as vice president and general manager for the new units, and will be responsible for developing these and other new growth businesses.“Harriet brings to IBM a strong, proven track record as a transformative leader,” said John E. Kelly, senior vice president, solutions portfolio and research. “Throughout her career, across multiple geographies and cultures, she has consistently shown a deep understanding of the needs of her customers and clients, and how to help them achieve their goals and aspirations. Her creativity and vision will help organizations transform themselves to take fuller advantage of emerging data and … [Read more...] about IBM Launches Internet of Things and Education Business Units

Apple Music isn’t for everyone — in fact, it might only be for people over the age of 35. Nonetheless, it’s quickly become a prominent player within four months of its debut, granting iTunes and iOS users access to the new-fangled Beats 1 Radio station and the company’s extensive catalog of tunes for less than the cost of a traditional LP. Success doesn’t necessarily translate to simplicity, though. Apple Music remains riddled with many navigational woes and a severe lack of explanation when it comes to features, despite having garnered more than 6.5 million paid subscribers since its launch.That said, knowing is half the battle with Apple Music. There are plenty of little tips and tricks that help to understand the service’s inner workings, whether you intend to download tracks for offline consumption or merely want to wake up streaming your favorite Adele song (in this case, Hello). Below are a few of our … [Read more...] about Make the most of Apple Music with these 10 tips and tricks

Perhaps Google should consider building a BS detector into Glass so it can easily filter entries in future competitions thereby helping it to avoid a repeat of the current mess it finds itself in.You see, on Tuesday the company started notifying winners of its recent Glass Explorer contest. The prize, Google’s high-tech specs, will be presented to winners once they hand over $1500.To have a chance of getting their hands on the futuristic eyewear, entrants had to come up with a neat idea about what they’d like to do with Glass and then post it on the #ifihadglass Twitter page.While most people who entered the competition obviously gave some serious thought to their suggestions, some of them were just plain daft. And some of the daft entries won. However, after realizing its error, the Mountain View company is now actually reading the entries and withdrawing invitations from those it deems a bit silly.For example, Twitter user Le Queen won for her interesting yet somewhat … [Read more...] about Contest confusion: Google UNinvites some winners of its Glass competition

Microsoft’s Surface Studio introduction video has blown well past 10 million views on YouTube. That’s an impressive achievement for what’s essentially an advertisement for a very expensive, very niche PC. By comparison, the introduction video for Apple’s biggest PC product release of 2016, the much more mainstream and highly anticipated MacBook Pro, has just over a million views on YouTube.Clearly, Microsoft struck a chord with a lot of people.The Surface Studio reveal was important because Microsoft designed something that’s not only different — it feels like the future. The Surface Dial alone is a truly innovative way to interact with a PC, and it actually has a function. It makes working with a PC more intuitive and natural for its intended audience, and that’s its only reason it exists, unlike some other ideas put forward this year (Touch Bar, we’re looking at you).While Apple talks about how the Mac still matters, Microsoft … [Read more...] about This year Microsoft, not Apple, built the hardware we didn’t know we wanted

HP has made incredible progress over the last few years with Meg Whitman at the helm, which was evident at its annual analyst meeting last week. It has made major progress in the cloud, in devices, and in how the company is run. The result should be an increasingly interesting set of products and services uniquely differentiated in the market.This effort was far from easy, and I was one of the folks who, had I been asked at the time, would have said it was impossible -- HP was in that big a mess. Then again, Apple looked impossible, but Jobs pulled that out, suggesting when the right person takes the top spot, impossible gets done.Since I'm on HP, my product of the week is a really interesting Windows 8.1 extremely well-priced 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop from HP. It's one heck of a product for under US$400.When Meg Whitman took over, it was after a series of HP CEOs had been fired or forced to resign from the company. Carly Fiorina came in as the closest thing to royalty that I've … [Read more...] about OPINION The Amazing Promise of HP’s Impossible Turnaround

I’m not much of a ranter. Most of the time, I try to temper my temper with a cooling bath of pragmatism. And in general, I find this is a valuable way to approach most issues. Keep the emotions on the sidelines; skip straight to the facts. But there is one topic that’s been nagging me for the past year that I can no longer push beneath the surface: The infuriating pitifulness of my local Internet service provider.I spent most of my adult life in the vast interconnected jungle that is New York City. For Internet and television service, however, my neighborhood in Queens had but one provider: Time Warner Cable. Like most anyone, I had my list of complaints about the company: unnecessary fees, ridiculous charges for installation, absurd wait times for service problems, and on, and on. But at the end of this string of annoyances, I received quality service, a fast connection, and nothing too much to complain about.Then I moved from the city to the country. And that’s when … [Read more...] about State of the Web: Be happy you have a big name ISP

Scientists seeking to understand the origins of life have found a new organic compound in the material from which a star like the Sun is forming.Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) are part of a team that have for the first time detected methyl isocyanate (or CH3NCO) in a solar-type protostar, the kind from which our Sun and the Solar System formed.Methyl isocyanate (CH3NCO) is one of a family of prebiotic molecules, thought to be the precursors of more complex compounds, such as peptides and amino acids, associated with living organisms on Earth."Our findings indicate that the key ingredients for the origin of life could have been produced at an early stage of the Solar System," said co-author Dr David Quénard from QMUL's School of Physics and Astronomy.The team used data from the ALMA telescope (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile to detect the compound in the warm, dense inner regions of the cocoon of dust and gas around very young stars … [Read more...] about Organic Compound Found in Early Stages of Star Formation

Informatics Images taken with Cassini's narrow angle camera on April 15, 2013 show disturbances at the very edge of Saturn's A ring the outermost of the planet's large, bright rings. One of these disturbances is an arc about 20 percent brighter than its surroundings, 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) long and 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide. Scientists also found unusual protuberances in the usually smooth profile at the ring's edge. Scientists believe the arc and protuberances are caused by the gravitational effects of a nearby object. Details of the observations were published online on April 14, 2014, by the journal Icarus.The object is not expected to grow any larger, and may even be falling apart. But the process of its formation and outward movement aids in our understanding of how Saturn's icy moons, including the cloud-wrapped Titan and ocean-holding Enceladus, may have formed in more massive rings long ago. It also provides insight into how Earth and other planets in our solar … [Read more...] about NASA Images May Reveal Birth of New Saturn Moon

As I look back on 2012, a number of products stand out as memorable. I figured I'd use my last column of the year to take a moment to recall each one and what made it special.This is also the time I look back and pick my product of the year -- the one product that I just can't live without.In no particular order:For years I wondered why someone didn't use the technology that was used to cool astronauts and race drivers in consumer clothing and beds.This is important to me, because my wife likes it warm and I like it cool at night, which used to mean either I was sleeping in a pool of my own sweat or she was bundled up like Nanook of the North.Well the Chili Pad was what I asked for.It circulates water as warm as 118 or as cold as 45 degrees for each side of a king or queen sized bed to ensure both parties have the temperature they need and there is no fight for the thermostat. I don't go anyplace without my Kindle Fire HD. This little tablet has been my constant companion when waiting … [Read more...] about OPINION A Few of My Favorite 2012 Things

Part 1 of this series discusses the different approaches being taken to design more efficient urban landscapes.Technologists tend to think of so-called smart cities as being tied together by technology. Their focus is on using technology to change our lives and make cities more efficient and smarter.The problem with this approach is that it only focuses on making application management more efficient and tying applications together. Ants are efficient, and their nest's structure ties them together quite well. There are sections for worker ants, soldier ants, larvae and the queen, and they emit chemicals to tell each other what to do and where they have located food. In other words, ants are efficient at making other ants and maintaining their quality of life.The needs of a city or any other segment of human society extend beyond the efficient to the compassionate, the human, the moral and the ethical. How can a city whose apps are all tied together into one vast network deal with the … [Read more...] about Cities of the Future, Part 2: Building a Central Civic Nervous System